USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Leicester > Brief history of Leicester, Massachusetts > Part 12
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under the direction of Henry A. Denny as chief mar- shal, by the Leicester Fire Company, with the North- bridge Band. Four Revolutionary soldiers were honored guests. The address was by Hon. Emory Washburn, and is a valuable contribution to the Revolutionary history of the towns. Rev. Dr. Nelson was chaplain. Among the after-dinner addresses was that of Hon. Joseph Sprague, ex-mayor of Brooklyn, N. Y.
The 4th of July, 1871, was chosen as the date of celebrating the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the organization of the town by the several towns of the original township. The exercises were in a large tent on the Common. Rev. S. May, in behalf of the Committee of Arrangements, introduced the exercises of the morning, which consisted of music by the Woreester Band, singing, prayer by the chap- lain, Rev. A. H. Coolidge, and a learned and eloquent historical address by Governor Emory Washburn. About eight hundred sons and daughters of Leicester sat down at the tables, Capt. J. D. Cogswell as mar- shal having charge of the arrangements. Jos. A. Denny, Esq., as president of the day, introduced the after-dinner exercises, Dr. J. N. Murdock acting as toast-master. Addresses were made by Hon. Waldo Flint, Abraham Firth, Esq., Hon. Edward Earle, Gen. E. T. Jones, Hon. N. Sargent and others.
In 1876 the towns again united and celebrated the eentennial of the Declaration of Independence. The morning exercises were in the town hall, and Rev. S. May was president of the day. John E. Russell, Esq., delivered an eloquent address. The singing was un- der the direction of Mr. Thomas S. Livermore, and the musie by the Leicester Cornet Band. The com- pany then moved in procession, under Capt. J. D. Cogswell as marshal, to Sargent's Grove, where after- dinner addresses were made by the several clergymen, teachers of the academy and others.
The principal addresses on all these occasions have been published, and are invaluable sources of import- ant and interesting local and general history.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
DR. EDWARD FLINT.1
Dr. Edward Flint belonged to a family of physi- cians. liis grandfather, Dr. Edward Flint, of Shrews- bury, was the physician of that town during a long life. His father, Dr. Austin Flint, born in Shrews- bury, established himself in Leieester in 1783, at the close of the War of the Revolution, in which he had been an army surgeon, lived here a long and honored life, professionally eminent, and died at over ninety years of age. His elder brother was Dr. Joseph II.
1 By Rev. Samuel May.
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Flint, of Northampton and Springfield, whose son Austin became distinguished in New York, both in practice and as a medical author ; and who left a son, also named Austin, as successor to his labors and hon- ors. Dr. John Flint, of Boston, was a cousin, and studied medicine with him. And his only son, John Sydenham Flint, was a physician for some forty years in Roxbury, held in the highest esteem there, and died in April, 1887.
Dr. Edward Flint, second son of Dr. Austin and Elizabeth (Henshaw) Flint, of Leicester, was born November 7, 1789. He studied medicine with his father, and established himself in its practice in Lei- cester in 1811. Six years later he was married to Harriet, chlest daughter of Elihu Emerson, Esq., of Norwich, Vt. Soon after marriage he built the house in the centre of the town which he occupied during life, and where his widow now resides in her ninety- first year. Dr. Flint died May 30, 1880, being, like his father, a few months over ninety years of age. Three children was born to them-Charlotte Emerson, Sally, and John Sydenham. The daughters were very excellent and attractive young women, but they both died in early womanhood. Their loss severely tried Dr. Flint's faith and firmness; but no murmur escaped him. Seven years after his own death, his only son died, as already stated, and the mother is now left childless, but is ministered to, in her age and many infirmities, with unsurpassed devotedness.
Dr. Flint succeeded to his father's large practice, which extended beyond the town limits. He gave his life, in the strictest sense, to his profession, and to those who needed his services, making no discrimina- tion among those who were able and those who were not able to pay him for that service. It was a life uneventful, but steadily laborious, and attended with frequent exposures. A physician has peculiar oppor- tunity to render charitable service, and Dr. Flint had his full share of such experience; and as he had a great repugnance to pressing the collection of debts due him, it followed that an unusual amount of such indebtedness was never paid. A recent writer in a Health Journal says: " It is safe to say that but few physicians in general practice manage to collect more than one-half of their bills," and enlarges upon the wrong thus done. Cases of destitution will always occur, and our physicians may be safely trusted not to forget them; but it should cease to be thought allowable for others to use a doctor's time and ser- vices without compensation. Attempts, on various grounds, were made to introduce other physicians to the town, but the general respect and confidence of Leicester people were never withdrawn from Dr. Flint. Washburn, in his " History of Leicester," says of him: "The rank and position which Dr. Flint sustains in the community have been the natural re- suit of the many years of honorable and successful pursuit of the profession of his choice."
lle was a life-long friend of temperance. When
his house was built-which was before the day of tem- perance societies-he induced the workmen to give up the customary strong drink, and he furnished them hot coffee in its place, which Mrs. Flint daily made for them. He never permitted wine or strong drinks to be placed on his table, nor offered to visitors, and never used them himself. He told the present writer that he had an early lesson on the subject, in seeing his father always pass the mug or glass untasted, as it went the rouuds among the neighbors collected at some publie place. His horses and his dogs were more than his servants : they were his friends and he was theirs. lle had a quaint humor, with a somewhat rough manner, in both respects resembling his father. When a boy he one day brought from the post-oflice to his father a small packet; his father, on opening it, said, " Here, Ned, take off your jacket," which being done, the father rolled up the boy's sleeve, and with no further notice made an incision in his arm and in- serted some vaccine matter, and thus, as he always claimed, he became, with little previous notice, the first subject of vaccination in the town of Leicester.
DEA. JOSHUA MURDOCK.1
The older readers of this history will be glad to rec- ognize in the accompanying engraving the likeness of Dea. Joshua Murdock. He was the son of William and Achsah Murdock, and was born in Westminster, Mass., October 28, 1780. Ilc served a regular appren- ticeship as cabinet-maker to Artemas Woodward, of Medfield, Mass. He was united in marriage with Clarissa Hartshorn, of Medfield, June 3, 1806, and soon removed to West Boylston, and, with his brother Artemas, began the business of cabinet-making. In 1811 he came to Leicester and purchased the place still owned by the family. His cabinet shop was east of the house. Here he carried on the business for many years, employing a number of hands. He was in every sense a master-workman. The products of his skill were at once thorough and elegant, and many highly valued and beautiful specimens are still retained in various families in the vicinity.
In 1833, and again in 1834, the town expressed its appreciation of him by electing him to the House of Representatives in the Legislature of the State. IIe was for many years treasurer of the First Parish, first elected when the affairs of the parish were managed by the town, through the selectmen. He was also trustee of the invested funds of the church and parish to the time of his death. He was made deacon of the church January 7, 1817, and retained the office through life. He was the first superintendent of the Sunday-school, and held that office, as nearly as can be ascertained, more than twenty-five years.
In April, 1812, he with his wife united with the First Congregational Church-the first persons to make
1 By A. II. Coolidge.
-- ---
Lostna Murdock
1
1
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a public profession of faith after the settlement of Dr. Nelson, the month before. He possessed a singularly even and benign spirit, sweetened by genuine piety. Ile was always very modest and retiring, yet he cheerfully accepted the cares and responsibilities of his office in the church, and was always heard with interest and pleasure in the several meetings of the church. The writer remembers him with the deepest respect and tenderness as one of the truest, most helpful and sym- pathetic of his friends in the first years of his min- istry.
He died suddenly, in his shop, December 30, 1859. A memorial sermon was preached by the junior pastor, January 8, 1860, from Prov. 20: 6-" Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness; but a faithful man who can find ?"
JOSEPH A. DENNY, ESQ.'
Joseph Addison Denny was the grandson of Daniel Denny, who settled in Leicester in the spring of 1717. He was one of the twelve children of Joseph Denny. His mother, Phoebe Denny, was the daughter of Col. William Henshaw.
Ile was born May 13, 1804, and passed his early childhood in the house on Main Street now owned by the family of the late John Loring. His mother died when he was eleven years old. About two years later he left home and was a clerk in the store of IT. G. Henshaw, Esq., in New Worcester, for two or three years. He then returned home, and attended school at Leicester Academy for several terms. About the year 1823 he was engaged as a clerk in the store of James & John A. Smith, in a building west of the Leicester Hotel. There he remained until 1826, when he commenced the manufacture of card-clothing, which he continued until 1857.
He was a diligent and intelligent student, and pro- ductions of his pen at this period, which are still pre- served, indicate unusual thoughtfulness as well as lit- erary taste. He early formed the determination of making his life a success in the trnest sense. Ile even gave up the games and other amusements in which many of the young were absorbed, that he might se- cure his evenings for useful reading. When he reached the age of twenty-one years he wrote a series of reso- lutions for " future guidance." These resolutions are indicative of his early purpose, as well as of his later character. Among them are the resolutions to abstain from the use of " ardent spirits," gambling and pro- fane language. The platform of business principles which he then adopted is worthy of the consideration of the young, and is given in his own words : " Resolved, That if frugality and application to business will en- sure me a competency of wealth, I will never be poor. That, while I have my health, I will never spend faster than I earn, and on the contrary, while I have a sufficiency, I will never deny myself the conveni-
ences of life for the purpose of hoarding up treasure. That, while I am prospered in business, I will never refuse charity, where I think it my duty to extend it.' And should I ever accumulate property, may I have the satisfaction of reflecting that it was not obtained by oppressing the poor, unfair dealing or any other dishonorable means, and may a bountiful Providence prosper my undertakings."
In the year 1826 he entered the firm of Isaac Southgate & Co., which, as has already been stated, developed into that of Bisco & Denny. It was in the beginning a small enterprise. The pricking and tooth-forming machines were moved by hand, and the cards sent out to be set by women and children. The business increased gradually, and prospered so that by careful attention to its details he secured a competence.
He was also largely interested in the establish- ment of the Leicester Boot Company. He was a prominent director and valued adviser in the State Mutual Life Assurance, and the Merchants' and Farmers' Mutual Fire Insurance Companies in Wor- cester, from the date of their organization to the time of his death. He was a director and for a time the president of the Leicester Bank. He was assistant assessor in the Internal Revenue Depart- ment during and after the war. He served the town as selectman and School Committee, and from March, 1850, to the time of his death, in 1875, was town clerk. He was, in 1857, elected to the House of Representatives in the Legislature of the State. His services for the academy, to whose interest he was earnestly devoted, were invaluable. He was a trustee from August 20, 1834, and treasurer from May 11, 1853, till his death, in 1875. He gave to this institution his personal services, and contributed liberally to its funds; and it was through his influ- ence that most of its present endowment was se- cured. With many of the former pupils of this in- stitution the thought of Leicester Academy and Joseph A. Denny are inseparable. His portrait has a place with the founders and benefactors of the academy in Smith Hall. Mr. Denny was a man of literary tastes, and spent much time in reading, thus familiarizing himself with history and the best lit- erature.
IIe at different times traveled in various parts of the country, and had a comprehensive appreciation alike of its resources and its need. He took special pains to familiarize himself with statute law. He wrote legal documents, and had charge of pecuniary trusts, and settled estates. He wrote many wills, and often, by wise suggestion, impressed upon men in the disposal of their property the importance of making liberal provision for their wives, a consideration which is too often found overlooked. Although never admitted to the bar, he was still a legal ad- viser, consulted by people of his own and neighbor- ing towns. This service was to a large extent gra-
1 By Rev. A. H. Coolidge.
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tuitous. He was pre-eminently the friend and helper of widows and orphans, and of the poor. Men and women of all classes and different nationalities re- sorted to him for counsel and help. They came to him with their quarrels, their business perplexities, their financial troubles, their plans and enterprises and their sorrows ; and found in him an attentive listener, a sound adviser, a generous helper and a sympathizing friend. He was, perhaps, more than any other person, familiar with the locations and his- tory of Leicester and the lives of its former in- habitants; and to him, more largely than is gener- ally known, Gov. Emory Washburn was indebted for the materials of his excellent history of the town. His manuscript notes, his " Reminiscences of Leices- ter," published in the Worcester Spy, and his journal which is a record of passing events, are of great his- torical valuc. He may be truthfully termed the an- nalist of Leicester.
In 1874 he made a tour of Europe, which was a source of great profit and enjoyment to so intelligent and appreciative an observer. He was especially interested in visiting the home of his ancestors and his relatives in England.
He united with the First Congregational Church in July, 1827, and through life was one of its devoted and helpful members and a constant attendant upon all its services. He was, for many years and at the time of his death, a teacher in the Sunday-school. He was interested in the great missionary enter- prises, both home and foreign, and contributed liber- ally to them. He set apart at the beginning of each year a certain portion of his income for benevolent objects, and regarded one-tenth of a successful busi- ness man's profits as too little to be thus employed. He was interested in young men who were struggling for an education, and gave liberal aid to those who were preparing for the ministry. He had a large circle of friends, and was widely known. He mar- ried, April 30, 1829, Mary Davis, the daughter of Major Joel Davis, of Rutland, Mass., who survives him. They had two children,-Mary Elizabeth, the wife of Deacon Lyman D. Thurston, and Hon. Charles Ad- dison Denny. le built the house in which he so long resided in 1837. He had all the qualities which made home and social life delightful. He was fond of children, and his conversation was in- structive and entertaining. He died February 25, 1875, of pneumonia, after a few days' illness. It was said of him at his funeral, which was largely attended in the First Congregational Church: "He under- stood better than most men the truth that while men die, institutions and influences live, and was largely endowed with that rare, unselfish wisdom which qual- ifies one to build the foundations of the public wel- fare deep and enduring. The effects of this purpose, which, to a large extent, dictated the policy of his life, will be more fully understood and acknowledged in the future than they can be now, and his name
will go down to posterity as one of the benefactors of the town."
HIe kept from January 1, 1857, to September, 1874, a personal journal, which is of great value as a record also of local and public events in one of the most eventful periods of our national history. A few days before his death he completed a transfer to this journal of the diary of his European travels, and for- mally concluded the series of entries with these sig- nificant words: "And here I will close this daily journal of my own private matters, which I have kept for almost eighteen years, intending it princi- pally as a business memoranda. It has often been useful to me as a reference; but as I have fewer business transactions, and have just recorded the history of one of the most important transactions of my life-a voyage to Europe-I will here close my record, blessing God for his care and protection, not only during this voyage, but a long life, now reach- ing more than three-score years and ten."
DWIGHT BISCO.1
Dwight Bisco, who was for sixty years one of the leading citizens and business men of Leicester, was born .in Spencer April 27, 1799, one of several sons of Jacob Bisco. Upon his father's farm he lived and worked until twenty-two years of age, when, with a silver dollar as his only money capital, he came to Leicester, and engaged in the employ- ment of Cheney Hatch, one of the card-clothing manufacturers,-a business of which Leicester then had almost a monopoly. Bringing with him good character, intelligence, habits of industry and self- control, and not afraid of work, he steadily acquired skill in this intricate and difficult manufacture.
In 1826 he associated himself as partner with Isaac Southgate, Joshua Lamb, John Stone and Joseph A. Denny, another house in the same business. In 1843 Mr. Denny and he bought the interest of the other partners, and continued the business, under the name of Bisco & Denny, until Mr. Denny's death, in 1875. It was then passed on by Mr. Bisco into the hands of his sons and of Mr. Denny's only son, he continuing to occupy himself in the factory until February, 1882, when he entirely withdrew, being then in his eighty- third year.
In middle life he had invested the chief part of his savings in the Leicester Boot Company. It was un- fortunate, and was brought to an end by the burning of the company's buildings and stock, September 25, 1860, inflicting on him a total loss of all he had paid in. With a quiet courage lie applied himself again to business, as closely as in his youth, and was en- abled to make good his loss, and to present to his cight children, at the Thanksgiving dinner-table, five hundred dollars each.
1 By Rev. Samuel May.
Dwight Bisco
Hiram Thenight
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His marriage with Ruth Woodcock (daughter of John Woodcock, Sr., and sister of John, Josephus aud Lucius, of the following generation), in 1826, founded a family life of great happiness and unity for more than fifty years. When they celebrated their golden wedding, January 8, 1876, "we saw them," said Rev. Mr. Coolidge, "standing together, a spectacle rarely witnessed, an unbroken family," __ parents, children and grandehildren, -- a circle which death had then never entered. But in September of that year Mrs. Bisco died, with little warning; and Mr. Bisco suffered the severest loss which could pos- sibly happen to him. He had become very deaf, and her loss was the more severe. Their children, who tre all living, are Emily A., Charles D., George, John W., William, Henry, and Frederick A .; all married but William. Mr. Bisco died December 7, 1882.
He was repeatedly a selectman of the town; a di- reetor of the Lcieester Bank eleven years; treasurer of the Pine Grove Cemetery Company forty years ; treasurer of the Unitarian Congregational Society as long, and a deacon of that church. He was a mem- ber of the State Legislature in 1847 and '48. In a notice of him in the Christian Register, Mr. Abraham Firthi wrote of "his marked faithfulness in all these relations, and in every sphere of life in which he moved. He was always found on the side of virtue, and of political and spiritual freedom. Brought up under the teaching of Calvinism, it never satisfied him."
One who was long in daily business association with him wrote, in the Worcester Spy, "he was known among his associates as an honest, upright man, of superior sense and judgment." His pastor, during his later years, wrote of him, "I have never known a truer man, nor one of greater strength of character." His first minister, at the funeral ser- vices, paid a warm tribute to his character and life. " No man in Leicester," said a fellow-citizen, "has a better record than Dwight Bisco." A memorial book of Mr. and Mrs. Bisco has been printed.
CAPTAIN HIRAM KNIGHT.1
Captain Hiram Knight was one of the successful business men of Leicester, who, beginning life with- out pecuniary advantages, have secured for them- selves a handsome property. Ilis father, Silas Knight, was a wheelwright, and in very moderate circum- stances. Ile was a Revolutionary soklier and pen- sioner. He lived to the venerable age of eighty-five years and five months. His mother was seventy-six years and six months old at the time of her deathi. Her maiden name was Martha Goodnow.
Hiram Kuight was born in Oakham, August 22, 1793. When about twenty-one years of age he came to Leicester for employment. He was married by
Rev. John Nelson, D.D., April 28, 1818, to Olive Barnes. Her mother was Betsy, the daughter of William Green, who was born in Leicester in 1743, and was the son of William and Rebeckah Green. Their first home was on Main Street, in the house afterward occupied by the Leicester Boot Company. The next year he removed to the academy, of which he was steward from 1819 to 1822. In 1823 he pur- chased the old " Green Tavern," on the corner of Main and Paxton Streets. Here for about two years he resided, engaged during the time in the occupa- tions of butchering, tavern-keeping and for a time was associated with Reuben Merriam in card-making and a store. In 1825 he became a member of the firmi of James & John A. Smith & Co., who built and occupied the factory where the Wire Mill now stands; and also the brick factory above and the boarding- house. The history of this company, which was afterward the firm of Smith, Woodcock & Knight, and later of Woodcock, Knight & Co., is given elsewhere. Mr. and Mrs. Kuight kept the board- ing-houses for this firm till about the year 1832, when the family eame back to the Green tavern. Mr. Knight was in the card business till 1867, when he transferred his interest to his sons. He, with John Woodeock and George Morse, was in partnership with James Smith & Co. at the formation of that house in Philadelphia in 1836, and retained his interest for a number of years.
The lower factory of his firm was to a considerable extent built under his supervision. He superintended the building of the Brick Factory and the boarding- house. IIe also had general charge of the building of the briek school-house on Pleasant Street. His own residenee, on the site of the old tavern, and now occupied by his son Dexter, was erected in 1843.
Mr. Knight had agricultural tastes, and at one time had considerable land, which he cultivated and im- proved. He was an active member of the Worcester Agricultural Society.
Ile was one of the directors of the Leicester Na- tional Bank from 1850 to 1874. Between the years 1836 and 1844 he served the town in the various offices of moderator of town-meetings, selectman and assessor, etc. He was appointed justice of the peace by Governor Boutwell. He was one of the early members of the Second Congregational Society, Uni -. tarian. In politics he was a Democrat, but reserved the right of independent thought and action. He was a member of the State Constitutional Conven- tion in 1853. In early life he was somewhat active in military affairs, and was captain of the local mili- tary company.
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